


Twelve Merry Men

by Domina_Temporis



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Tree, Classic Who, Gen, New Who
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-01 08:06:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 15,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2765819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Domina_Temporis/pseuds/Domina_Temporis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Each Doctor having a Christmas adventure with his companions, all Christmas carol themed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. O Christmas Tree

Barbara often found herself secretly wandering the corridors of the TARDIS when everyone was asleep. Well, secretly because no one else knew about it. She wasn’t entirely sure she wasn’t allowed to but had the feeling their strange alien tour guide would take it badly if he knew what she was doing. He’d probably view it as a breach of privacy or some other such nonsense, even though he was the one who had kidnapped them.

On this night in particular, she found she wasn’t alone. After barely ten minutes, she ran into Ian, who looked like he was barely awake.

“Barbara? What are you doing up?”

“Oh, just walking. I do that sometimes.”

Ian’s eyebrows flew up, “Does he know?”

Barbara laughed, “Of course not. It’s just so strange here. I find it hard to sleep so I walk instead.”

Ian nodded, “I know what you mean.” He glanced up at the harshly bright lighting that seemed to come from nowhere. “There’s no comforts. No sense of time even.”

“Do you ever wonder how long we’ve been gone?”

“No, there’s not really any point, is there? It’s a time machine.”

Barbara sighed, “No, I know that. I mean, how long we’ve been here. Our own personal time, I suppose. I’ve been trying to keep track and I think it’s about a year.”

Ian looked at her oddly, “Feels longer.”

“It does, doesn’t it? There’s been no way to mark it, no birthdays, no seasons, no…Christmas!” Barbara burst out.

Ian laughed, “You want to celebrate Christmas?”

“Yes, well, why not?” Barbara asked. “I’m sure we can find some way to do it justice, even if we never find December. Let’s suggest it.”

“He does owe us,” Ian conceded.

 

“Hmm…Christmas, eh?” The Doctor said the next day when they brought it up. “You want to celebrate Christmas?”

“Oo yes, why not, Grandfather?” Susan asked. “We never got to while we were on Earth and it sounded like so much fun.”

They all watched him with bated breath before he finally sighed, “Very well, very well, let’s go find what we need for this…Christmas holiday.”

“Well, first we need a tree,” Barbara said. “A pine tree, a big tall one.”

“I know, young lady, I know,” the Doctor said irritably, pushing some buttons on the console. The TARDIS evidently didn’t, because the first place they arrived at was a tropical island. “No, no, that won’t do at all,” the Doctor muttered, pushing the buttons again. This time they arrived in a desert. Ian and Barbara exchanged glances, trying not to laugh.

On the fourth or fifth try, they finally arrived on an alien planet with trees similar enough to pine trees on Earth that they stopped, afraid they would never find anything better. “Oh, yes, that’ll do,” Barbara said as Ian cut one down and brought it inside. “Susan, do you have anything we can use to decorate it?”

“Grandfather, can we use some of the instruments?”

“I suppose so,” the Doctor said, in a long-suffering tone. Five minutes later, as they were searching through a box of spare parts, he seemed as happy as could be, comparing the aesthetic qualities of different types of plugs and rushing around to hang them on the tree (which was definitely tall enough even if it was bright orange).

“Very nice, very nice,” the Doctor said, stepping back to admire their handiwork. It was certainly a unique tree, orange with different mechanical parts hanging from it, but this was a unique Christmas. “Isn’t there some sort of pudding associated with this holiday?” Barbara and Ian exchanged glances. For someone who’d only grudgingly agreed to it, he had become more concerned than any of them about getting it right.

“I knew you knew more than you were letting on,” Ian said as the Doctor laughed in that mysterious way he had. Somehow, today, it didn’t seem as menacing as usual. Maybe Christmas brought out the best in everyone.

They found themselves on a market planet far in the future where Susan and Barbara were able to find similar enough ingredients to make a passable Christmas pudding, while Ian and the Doctor went off in search of something like a turkey.

“Is this good enough?” Ian asked, struggling through the doors of the TARDIS with a bird three times the size of any Earth turkey.

“Oh, yes, that’ll do,” Barbara said. “If I can figure out how to cook it!”

“I don’t think there’ll be any problem with that, my dear,” the Doctor said, coming in behind Ian with several vegetables that could serve as side dishes. “The TARDIS kitchen is quite extensive. I don’t usually use it, of course, not with the food dispenser right in the control room.” 

He proved to be right. The kitchen was the largest room Barbara had seen yet; with an oven that would have fit a bird many times larger than the one they had.   
She and the Doctor set to work, and although he seemed annoyed at first, Barbara was starting to realize how much of that attitude was simply hiding his sense of fun. 

“You got flour on me!” Barbara said as the Doctor giggled and stirred the pudding batter innocently. 

“Are you ready yet?” Susan asked, coming in. 

“Almost, child, now go and get the table set up,” the Doctor said. “I must say, Barbara, I think I should cook more often. That was most enjoyable.”

“Well, I hope it’s as enjoyable to eat,” Barbara answered, bringing the huge turkey into the control room, where a table had been set up by their tree.

“That was delicious, Barbara,” Ian said when they were finished. 

“Yes, it was,” Susan said. 

“I’m glad. Maybe next time you can come visit us for a real Earth Christmas,” Barbara answered. It struck her for the first time that after all this was over she wouldn’t mind seeing Susan and the Doctor again, showing them around Earth. 

The Doctor got up then and said, “Isn’t there a tradition of gift-giving on Christmas?”

“Yes, usually,” Ian said. “None of us really have anything though.”

“Ahh, that, Chessington, is where you’re mistaken,” the Doctor answered, gleefully pushing more buttons on the console. Ian sat back, rolling his eyes at yet another variation on his name. 

They heard the now-familiar tearing sound that signaled landing and the Doctor gestured them all toward the door. “I managed to regain enough control to land us here. Consider it a gift, from Susan and I.”

Barbara and Ian stepped outside onto a small planetoid with a rock surface, protected by the TARDIS’s invisible shielding. Looking around, they were surrounded by particles of ice, some as large as boulders, others fine as dust. The ice was swirling around, creating patterns in the dust and sometimes colliding and showering them with snowflakes. It looked like a small-scale image of what happened when two galaxies collided, except much faster and all around them against the inky black of space. 

“Oh, Doctor, it’s beautiful!” Barbara said.

“Yes, I thought you would like it,” the Doctor said. “This asteroid has a small ring system made entirely of ice, due to the distance from its star, you see? The gravitational forces from nearby asteroids cause the rings to be in constant motion.”

“It’s really something, Doctor,” Ian said.

The Doctor smiled, putting an arm around Susan’s shoulders. “Merry Christmas, Barbara, Chesterton. I must say, I really have become quite glad you’re here.”

“Yes, me too,” Susan said quickly. 

Barbara and Ian couldn’t help smiling either. “On days like this, so am I,” Barbara said.


	2. God Res Ye, Merry TARDIS Crew

“Doctor?” Victoria called as she ran down the corridor.

“Don’t stop, just keep running!” The Doctor yelled as he caught up with her. The Monids, huge creatures with wings that caught on fire when in use, were gaining on them with every second. In the part of his brain that wasn’t trying to figure out how not to get killed, the Doctor wondered why he never managed to make it anywhere where something wasn’t trying to kill him.

“Doctor? I’ve got that foam gun you asked for,” Jamie said, arriving out of breath from the TARDIS, holding a large, makeshift gun. “I don’t know what you think you’re going to do with that though.”

“Well, you see, Jamie, this foam acts as a suppressant. When I shoot it at the Monids,” and here the Doctor demonstrated, suddenly in control of the whole situation, “their wings go out and they become too heavy to fly!” It was something like a fire extinguisher that he’d put together hurriedly a couple of crises ago, and he was glad he hadn’t taken it apart since then. The three of them grinned at each other, giddy with relief as the Monids all fell to the floor, their wings still smoking slightly but too encased in foam to take off again.

Victoria looked up at him, trying to get her breath back. “Don’t you think you were cutting it a bit close?”

“I was cutting it close? Jamie was the one who took too long getting the foam gun from the TARDIS!”

“I’d like to see you try and find anything in that spaceship o’ yours, Doctor,” Jamie said.

“Yes, well, I suppose it’s a bit more crowded than it used to be,” the Doctor admitted. He didn’t quite know where all this stuff had come from, only that he seemed to pick up a lot of it in his travels.

“Can we please go somewhere pleasant this time?” Victoria asked as they entered the TARDIS again.

Jamie scoffed, “Don’t bother asking. You know he can’t control where we go.” He and Victoria both threw the Doctor mischievous looks. His notorious lack of ability to pilot the TARDIS was a source of amusement for all three of them.

“Well, now, let’s see,” the Doctor said, pushing some buttons on the console. The familiar wheezing began as they took off. “I’m sure we can find somewhere nice to visit, don’t you think?” He rubbed his hands together, looking at the console with a pleading expression. For some reason, the TARDIS often took them to pleasant places after harrowing adventures, and he hoped this would be one of those times. The Doctor was beginning to suspect that his model was even more alive than ordinary TARDISes, since it seemed to be able to read his moods. Usually he was so busy he didn’t dwell on it. Today, he was counting on it to give them all a rest.

“Doctor?” Jamie called. “We seem to have stopped.” 

“Stopped? But we haven’t landed yet!” The Doctor said, looking anxiously at the console. So much for the TARDIS behaving itself. 

“Well, that’s what it says,” Jamie said. He knew how to read the controls by now, and he was pointing to the speed gauge. He was right, it read zero.

“No, that can’t possibly be right!” the Doctor said, throwing open the doors.

“Oh, no, Doctor, we’re in space!” Victoria cried, holding her breath.

“No, no, it’s all right, Victoria,” the Doctor said absent-mindedly, edging closer to the doors. “There’s a force field, see? Extending out beyond the doors. We’re quite safe.”

The three of them looked out into the expanse of space, awed into silence. The Doctor had seen it many times before from many different vantage points, but the desolate beauty of space always impressed him. He often thought all Time Lords should have to go out into the black nothingness periodically. It would help them to remember that they weren’t the biggest, most important things in the universe, a reminder that most of them sorely needed.

Slowly, Victoria started to hum. It was a tune the Doctor recognized, a Christmas song known as “Silent Night.” He slowly pulled his recorder out of his pocket and began to accompany her. Jamie rolled his eyes, but the Doctor was actually a skilled player. He just didn’t show it that often, much as he didn’t let on most of what he was capable of. No use scaring the people he was trying to help, after all.

After the song was done, the Doctor struck up “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen,” playing louder to compensate for the eerie emptiness of space. Encouraged, Jamie and Victoria sang louder as well until they were shouting the words into the dark.

“Can we not sing something a little happier?” Jamie asked when the song finished. 

Victoria smiled, singing “Here we come, a ‘wassailing, among the leaves so green.”

Jamie grinned, “Aye, that’s more like it!” He joined in with feeling, and the Doctor pretended to conduct them with one hand, while still playing along on the recorder. They burst out laughing when the song was done. 

“That was very nice, Victoria. You’re a lovely singer,” the Doctor said, nudging Jamie until the Scotsman agreed. Although, it was true. Victorian ladies of her class were expected to be musical, and she was no exception.

Victoria blushed and smiled, “Thank you. It seemed so empty out there. It reminded me of what you said, Doctor; that nobody in the universe could do what we’re doing. Christmas is a time to remember what’s greater than all of us. And what could be greater than space?”

“And they’re great fun to sing besides,” Jamie said. “The lads used to sit around the fire and sing to keep the spirits up.”

“It builds camaraderie, so they say,” the Doctor said. He reflected, not for the first time, that the Time Lords could have benefited from such things. What was it that kept reminding him of the Time Lords today? 

“It’s only a shame it’s not actually Christmas,” Jamie said.

“It’s a time machine, isn’t it?” Victoria answered. “So it doesn’t matter whether it’s Christmas or not.”

“Well, actually-” the Doctor started to say, but a stern look from Jamie cut him off. The Doctor looked back at him, as if to ask why he shouldn’t explain the complex machinations of time travel, and Jamie nodded toward Victoria. Oh, yes. She was obviously looking for something to hold on to in the untethered existence they led, and to shatter that, even though she was incorrect, would have been tactless at the very least.

The Doctor smiled, and continued. “Well, Victoria, since we’re in space, there isn’t actually any time except what we experience here in the TARDIS. You see, time only is measured if there’s something to measure it against, and we’re the only ones here. So if we decide it’s Christmas, well, then it must be Christmas!”

“Excellent. Shall I make the eggnog?” Jamie asked, starting to head into the kitchen.

“A very good idea, Jamie. Are you coming, Victoria?” the Doctor held his arm out to her which she took with a shy smile. Trying to help Victoria move past the sadness that had enveloped her since the death of her father was one of the more difficult tasks the Doctor had tried, but he thought he was starting to see a change in her. She was much more willing to take part in their adventures, and showed more of an interest in her unfamiliar surroundings. It struck the Doctor how odd it was that all these companions he picked up considered him their leader, the one they went to when they had problems of any sort. He had to admit he was learning a great deal about people by stepping into that role, however difficult it might be on occasion.

Today, all it required of him was some Christmas carols and eggnog. And some slight skill in charades, which he most certainly did not possess, if their game in the control room was any gauge. But if Christmas was described as a day for family and relaxation, then that’s what they got. It may have seemed like a small thing, but for wanderers like them, small things were often the best gifts of all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how this turned out, I found Two incredibly difficult to write, even though he's the only Doctor who is always at least in my top three. Also, for some reason my brain froze every time I tried to write this chapter with Zoe, even though I don't actually like Victoria that much.


	3. I'll Be Home for Christmas

The Doctor worked straight through the night; sure he had it this time. It was at least his sixth attempt to break through the restraints placed on him by the Time Lords, and each of them had failed. Not this one, not if he had anything to say about it. Switching the time rotor to a negative frequency might just undo whatever they’d done to his TARDIS. 

He poked his head out from under the console, not letting on how eager he was to see if it worked, but all too soon he heard an unfamiliar grinding noise. It was more violent than the friendlier version his TARDIS made while traveling, and he quickly ducked back under the console, intending to pull out the jury-rigged time rotor. Before he got there, the console exploded outward, and he had to duck to avoid being hit by gears and wires.

“Well, so much for that,” the Doctor said, retrieving the time rotor, which had blown apart completely. It would have to be replaced now. He sighed, and stalked angrily out of the TARDIS, slamming the doors as he left. He leaned against the doors and sighed. It wasn’t her fault they’d done this to her, but couldn’t something work? Just once, couldn’t he get a little closer to getting off this rock?

“Liz?” The Doctor called. “I need more of those heavy-duty wires you found for me, do you know where they are?” No answer. “Liz?” 

He went out into the hallway, which was unusually deserted. The Doctor didn’t usually pay much attention to what went on outside his lab, but he was sure there were UNIT officers around all the time. “Liz?” he called again. Still no answer. He started to make his way through the building, finding no one anywhere. 

“Sergeant Benton?” He started back to the lab, intending to call the guardhouse asking where everyone was. Maybe something had gone wrong? He was sure he would have noticed though. 

“Tell the Minister to have a good holiday from me,” the Doctor heard coming from an office he passed by. “Yes, thank you very much. Goodbye.” The Brigadier appeared through the open door. “Oh, hello, Doctor.”

“Ah, Lethbridge-Stewart. You’re just the person I wanted to see, for once,” the Doctor said. 

“I’m glad to hear it,” the Brigadier said sardonically. “What can I do for you?”

“Where is everyone? I’ve been looking for Liz for the past twenty minutes and she doesn’t seem to be anywhere. And then I went looking for her, and no one seems to be here. None of your uniformed men, no Sergeant Benton. Did something happen while I was working? I would like to stay informed, you know, Brigadier.”

“Doctor,” the Brigadier said, holding up a hand to stop his ranting. “Nothing happened. It’s Christmas! Most of the men are on leave. Liz told you last week she and her husband were going to spend Christmas in the French Riviera.”

“Oh,” the Doctor ran a hand across the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I must have forgotten, I was, er, trying to fix the TARDIS, you see. It’s a dreadful mess and I needed some more wire. I suppose I must not have noticed everyone had left.”

“You really must get out of that box of yours, Doctor,” the Brigadier said. “I don’t know what you expect it to do.”

“Well, you’re one to talk!” the Doctor said, sidestepping the Brigadier’s rather obvious attempt to find out what he was doing with the TARDIS. “What are you doing here, if it’s Christmas? Don’t you want to spend the day with your family?”

“Someone had to stay on duty,” the Brigadier said, looking the Doctor straight in the eye as if daring him to say anything about remaining on duty on a holiday. 

“Yes, I suppose someone did,” the Doctor said. He looked at the bundle of wires he was holding, then started to say that he should get back to his lab. With everyone gone, he’d probably have some uninterrupted work time, although he had to admit that going back to the lonely lab to face more failure at the helm of the TARDIS was the last thing he wanted to do.

Fortunately, the Brigadier cut him off before he finished his thought. “Doctor, as long as you’re here, I have some brandy in the office. Strictly for off-duty, you understand. But it is Christmas, if you wanted to join me?”

The Doctor was about to refuse, but something about the two of them being the only two people in practically the whole of UNIT Headquarters made him rethink his decision. “Yes, that sounds very nice, Brigadier, thank you.”

“This is very nice brandy,” the Doctor said as they sat at either side of the Brigadier’s desk. “It reminds me very much of something I had on Celestius 3. Of course, that would burn a hole through most species’ digestive tracts.” He glanced at the Brigadier with a mischievous smile. “Not mine, though.”

The Brigadier took a sip of brandy, “Yes, I’ve been meaning to ask you, Doctor, just what exactly are you?” He was starting to be affected by the alcohol, because the Doctor didn’t think he’d ever ask that while sober.

But the Doctor just smiled, “What do you think I am?”

The Brigadier sat back, thinking. Finally, he said, “I know you’re not from Earth. I’ve seen your X-rays and you have two hearts. So, are you from the Andromeda galaxy?”

“That’s a very good guess. Most people would have said Mars. But I’m afraid you’re wrong, Brigadier,” the Doctor said, his smile widening. It really was very good brandy.

“No, I supposed I was,” the Brigadier said. “So what is it, then?”

The Doctor looked down at his brandy. He had told UNIT he’d been stranded here, but not the whole truth. Well, except for Liz, but she was different. She would be traveling with him if he had transport. Somehow, telling them would make it more real. It would mean admitting he’d be spending the foreseeable future here on Earth, not to mention telling them why. He liked the way humans always looked to him as if he had all the answers. He didn’t want them to know he was at the mercy of his opulent, stuffy Time Lord higher-ups.

Still, while he was on Earth he owed everything he had to the Brigadier, who was risking prison keeping his origins secret. He supposed keeping the reason for his being here secret wasn’t fair. “I’m a Time Lord,” the Doctor finally said, meeting the Brigadier’s eyes with a serious expression, letting him know this was top secret.

“A Time Lord?” The Brigadier repeated, an impressed look crossing his face no matter how he tried not to let it show. The Doctor smirked. That was about all the title was good for, impressing people.

“We discovered the secret of time travel long ago, but we don’t use it. We’re just supposed to observe, watch, do nothing until something catastrophic happens. Then we step in, fix the problem and berate everyone else for not being as good as we are.” The Doctor was surprised by his own bitterness, and drank some more brandy to cover it up. 

“And you didn’t agree with that, I take it? Got bored and left?” 

“Yes, how on Earth did you know?”

The Brigadier gave him a knowing look, “Lucky guess.”

“Yes, well, I got away, which isn’t easy, I’ll have you know. I stole my TARDIS and traveled around for a good while before they caught up with me. They forced me to regenerate, exiled me to Earth. They made it so my TARDIS couldn’t travel through time, and erased my memory of how to fix it so I can’t leave.”

“You stole your TARDIS?” the Brigadier asked.

That was all he’d taken from that story? The Doctor sighed, “Yes. They weren’t too happy with me, as you can see.” He gestured around the office, calling attention to his current situation. 

“Is that what happened to your traveling companions? Jamie and Zoe?”

The Doctor sighed. “Yes. The Time Lords erased their memories of traveling with me and sent them back to their own times.” He sighed. Out of everything the Time Lords had done, that was what hurt the most. Everything else, he knew he would get back in time, even his ability to travel, as awful as it was now without it. But Jamie and Zoe would never remember him or their experiences together. Or even each other.

The Brigadier, meanwhile, was looking at him with an expression very close to sympathy. “I’m sorry, Doctor. I hope you won’t take it badly if I tell you we’re glad to have you here. You’ve been very helpful.”

“Well, I’m glad I’m useful to somebody,” the Doctor said, but he held up his glass so they could clink them together. “I don’t think I ever thanked you for letting me stay here. I suppose it goes without saying I don’t have anywhere else to go.” It struck him how alone he really was, in spite of all the people he’d traveled with and he looked up and smiled sadly. “I don’t suppose it’s so bad here, after all.” There was an irony to it, that he had to be exiled to find people who appreciated what he did. UNIT could be a good home base, if he let them. Maybe it was time to spend some time outside the lab. Liz would be happy to hear that, when she got back.

An hour later, and onto the second bottle of brandy, the Doctor was telling the Brigadier about an adventure he’d had on one of the moons of Saturn in the far future. “You know, the atmosphere there is so thin you have to wear a spacesuit to go outside and the delegates from the Horsehead Nebula Federation were busy throwing rocks at me. Well, the rocks weren’t going very fast, because of the lack of gravity but they traveled far and I had to leap fifty yards or more with each stop just to keep ahead of them!”

The Brigadier started to laugh, barely avoiding snorting, “Did you ever find out what you did to make them so angry?”

“That’s the thing, I have absolutely no idea!” the Doctor said indignantly. “I just got to the TARDIS as quickly as possible and left.” They both collapsed in laughter. 

“I think I’m beginning to see why the Time Lords see you as such a menace,” the Brigadier said through his laughter.

“Really, Brigadier, there’s no need for insults,” the Doctor said, trying to sound stern, but failing because of how hard he was laughing. He got up, swaying slightly due to the brandy, “Thank you, Brigadier, for a very nice Christmas.”

“Yes, we’ll have to make this a tradition for as long as you’re here,” the Brigadier said, trying to maintain his air of authority. He didn’t exactly succeed because he was still laughing, and continued to laugh as the Doctor headed back to the lab, where he gave up working on the TARDIS for the night in favor of watching the annual Christmas movie. It was about time he got to know his new home base a little better, after all.

The next time he saw the Brigadier, after everyone had returned from Christmas leave, they glanced at each other then quickly looked away, silently agreeing not to mention their Christmas celebration. It got around UNIT headquarters anyway, and the story about how the mysterious new science adviser got the commanding officer drunk over Christmas served, inexplicably to both of them, to make them more popular among the recruits. 

It also had the unintended side effect that the Brigadier gave the Doctor a bottle of brandy every Christmas for the next five years, until his new regeneration swore he couldn’t stand the stuff.


	4. Silent Night

“Don’t you think, Leela, that it doesn’t make sense?” the Doctor asked, looking at the trail of pine needles that had been left in the forest.

“What doesn’t make sense?” Leela asked distractedly, concentrating on tracing the pine needle trail. She shivered, cold even in the fur coat the Doctor had made her wear. She wasn’t used to a cold planet.

“Well, that these pine needles should fall so uniformly. They’re all in a straight line, look.” The Doctor pointed out the thin trail.

“Not if it was dragged by something very large,” Leela answered, although she had noted the odd placement and shape of the trail when she started tracing it. She wasn’t going to give the Doctor the satisfaction of knowing he was onto something though. He knew everything else, tracking and survival were her areas of expertise. And janus thorns. She was very good with janus thorns.

The trail started to thin, and Leela jumped up. “Come on, Doctor, we’re getting close!” She stomped through the snow as quickly as she could, leaving the Doctor to catch up behind her, his long scarf trailing in the snow.

The trail continued to thin until they reached a clearing, where there was a little log house with smoke coming out of the chimney. 

“Well, isn’t that nice? It looks just a like a Christmas card. Don’t you think it looks just like a Christmas card?” the Doctor asked as he joined Leela.

“What’s a Christmas card?” Leela asked, but the Doctor didn’t hear her. He was already striding up to the door and starting to pound on it.

“Hello? Is there anyone in there?” The Doctor stepped back as the door opened, revealing a small room with three small children and a man with a brown beard.

“Who are you?”

“Well, I’m the Doctor and this is Leela. Would you mind telling us where we are?”

One of the children, a small girl, came up and tugged on her father’s coat. “Daddy? Is it good luck if we have visitors on Christmas Eve?”

“Christmas Eve? Is it Christmas Eve?” the Doctor asked, making his way inside. There was only one room, with a cheerful fire in the fireplace. The two older children looked at the Doctor and Leela curiously.

“Yes, it is Christmas Eve. I’m Harold Altmeyer,” their host said. “These are my children, William, Marta, and Jane.” The littlest girl waved at them shyly. 

The Doctor made his way to the fire, saying, “We were wondering who was responsible for the trail of pine needles. That’s a lovely tree, by the way.”

Leela turned around, astonished to see a large pine tree standing in the corner, decorated with candles. “Why is there a tree in the house?” She asked in confusion.

“It’s a Christmas tree,” the young boy, William, answered in some confusion.

“What is Christmas?” Leela burst out, tired of everyone talking about it without explaining what it was.

“You don’t know what Christmas is?” William asked incredulously. His father shushed him, but the Doctor grinned broadly.

“It’s a holiday, Leela. People celebrate being together at the end of another year, and they make spectacular puddings and give each other presents.”

“And set up trees indoors?” Leela asked.

“Why, yes,” the Doctor said. “You know, I was at the very first Christmas.”

“That’s impossible,” Marta said.

“Is it?” the Doctor asked, an exaggerated look of surprise appearing on his face. He sat down in front of the fire, pulling a yo-yo from his pocket and began showing William how to use it. “You know the story of the three kings, I suppose?”

“Yes,” Marta answered, while her father looked on, uncertain of what was going on in his house tonight.

“What they don’t tell you is that there were four travelers that night. How else do you think they would have found where they were going?” the Doctor said.

“But you are not a king,” Leela protested.

“Well, of course not. That’s why I’m not in the story,” the Doctor said, standing up quickly. “Now, isn’t there a tradition of singing carols? I always liked that tradition, you know.”

Leela was thoroughly confused by the carol singing, since everyone knew the songs by heart but her. The Doctor’s booming voice led them through enough songs to last an hour, after which they all sat tiredly in front of the fire.

“On my world, we do not have songs like these,” Leela said rather wistfully. The songs on her world were all pounding rhythms and fast-paced. Good for dancing to, which was what they were for, but not good for much else. Certainly not for the fellowship of sitting together and singing like they did tonight.

“What do you mean, on your world?” Harold Altmeyer asked.

“Didn’t we tell you? We’re not from here,” the Doctor said with a grin. 

“Are you angels?” Little Jane asked, wide-eyed.

“No, I’m a Time Lord,” the Doctor said. “But Leela here is human, she’s just from another world.” He said this as if it were the most obvious fact, but the Altmeyer’s stared at him in disbelief. 

“Doctor, I think we should get back to the TARDIS,” Leela said in an aside, before turning to their hosts and saying, “Thank you for your hospitality.” The Doctor never seemed to know when he should leave a situation, and so she had taken to leading him around as much as she could. This wasn’t often, he was such a forceful personality, but on occasion it worked. Like today. 

“Yes, thank you very much,” the Doctor said as he strode out into the snow. Leela ran to catch up.

“You know where the TARDIS is?”

“Of course I know where the TARDIS is!” the Doctor said irritably, before looking back at the cabin. “Lovely people, weren’t they lovely people?”

“Yes,” Leela said. Anyone who could live in this lonely, cold location was at least as hardy as she was, and she respected hardiness above all else. “Earth holidays are much quieter than Sevateem holidays,” she observed. 

The Doctor laughed, “You should see Time Lord holidays. Most of the time I wasn’t sure if I was at a holiday or a funeral. Ah, here we are.” He opened the doors of the TARDIS, letting Leela inside. The hum of the engines seemed loud against the silence of the forest outside, and Leela suddenly thought it strange that there were no signs of life aside from the little cabin and its inhabitants.

“Doctor? Where are we?”

“Just a little stretch of forest that doesn’t matter to anyone. Except the Altmeyer’s, I suppose,” the Doctor answered, pushing buttons on the console. 

“I don’t think they are exactly what they seem,” Leela said slowly. No one could live as the only living beings around. It was impossible.

“Well, of course they’re not. Nothing ever is,” the Doctor said. Seeing she was going to get no answer out of him , she leaned against the console and hoped they would at least go somewhere warm next.


	5. Deck the Halls

“Who are you!?” The guard at the gate demanded of the trio of travelers. Nyssa and Tegan looked up at the Doctor, used to him taking the lead in any unexpected situation that arose.

The Doctor looked the guard in the eye and smiled, “Well, I’m the Doctor, and this is Nyssa and Tegan. We’re travelers. And you are?”

“Silence! Why are you here?”

“Well, we just sort of arrived,” the Doctor said. “We like to see new places, meet new people.”

Tegan rolled her eyes, “We just ‘sort of arrive’ at too many places.”

“Silence!” the guard screeched, “We do not believe you. What purpose is there in traveling for no reason, without knowing where you are going? You will be brought before the court!”

The Doctor shrugged and followed as if he were being taken to a grand party instead of to a likely arrest. Nyssa and Tegan rolled their eyes at each other and followed, trying to avoid being poked in the back by the guard’s staff. They could never understand how the Doctor took things like this in such stride, like he wanted nothing better than to be arrested and then prove himself smarter than everyone else by escaping and saving the day on top of everything.

Actually, that was probably exactly what he wanted.

“Look,” Nyssa whispered to Tegan as they entered what she assumed was the banquet hall. “Do you see anything that looks odd to you?”

Tegan looked around, “Well, it’s all dirty and medieval if that’s what you mean, but – oh, wait! There, that’s a computer. And lights. They shouldn’t have things like that.”

“No, they shouldn’t,” Nyssa agreed. 

The man at the center of the table, who it had to be assumed was the king, stood up. “Who is this?”

“They say they are travelers, my lord,” said the guard. “I thought I should bring them to you right away.”

“And right you were,” the king roared. “Do you three have anything to say for yourselves? Such as why you dare to interrupt my feast!”

The Doctor stepped forward and cleared his throat, looking discreetly around as he did so. “I’m the Doctor, this is Nyssa and Tegan, and we’re travelers.”

“Doctor!” the king burst out. “We have no need of doctors. Your tricks and potions do no good for us!”

“Yes, well, I can see that. All decorated for Christmas, are we?” the Doctor asked, gesturing around at the holly wreaths on the walls and the tree in the corner. “But no Christmas feast? Where’s the food? The goose? The Christmas pudding?” Tegan nudged Nyssa, noticing for the first time that the table was bare, and yet all the people were sitting around it as if enjoying a multicourse meal.

The king appeared confused for a moment, then shook his head. “You’re trying to confuse me, Doctor, with your clever words. Well, it won’t work!”

“No?” the Doctor asked with a look of innocence. “Tell me, did you mean to arrest us or not? I don’t hear any charges being brought against us. What are the laws on this planet anyway?”

Nyssa and Tegan frantically shook their heads at him, but he ignored them, staring at the king. 

The king appeared to be deep in thought, then he burst out laughing. “You thought you were going to fool me, didn’t you, Doctor?”

“I wouldn’t have dreamed of it,” the Doctor said. Tegan could see the glint in his eye that meant he’d succeeded at whatever it was he was trying to do. For all their sakes, she hoped he knew what he was doing. 

“I don’t think the usual punishment will work for these three,” the king said to the man next to him, clearly an aide of some sort. “For them, a special punishment is needed.” He raised his voice, “I demand that you entertain me!”

The Doctor smiled to himself while Nyssa and Tegan looked at each other in panic. They were supposed to entertain this mess? The court all grinned at once and started laughing before they had even done anything. The effect was disturbing. “Doctor, what are you doing?” Tegan asked.

“Calm down, and follow my lead,” the Doctor said quietly, producing three cricket balls from his pocket. He began juggling them absent-mindedly, glancing around the room as he did. He nodded at Nyssa and Tegan to do something, and Tegan quickly launched into a jitterbug while Nyssa started clapping, hoping the court would follow suit. They did, and the Doctor caught the three balls and took a sweeping bow. The court clapped wildly.

“You’d think they’d never seen any entertainment before,” Tegan remarked.

“If I’m right, they haven’t,” the Doctor said quietly. “Just keep following my lead.” He started walking around the table, speaking to the court. “Right, you may not know this song, but it’s very easy to learn, just follow along with the fa la la’s.” Nyssa threw Tegan a confused look, but the other woman gasped in recognition.

“Deck the halls with boughs of holly,” the Doctor sang, walking around the table conducting the court as they all got the hang of the words. Before long, they all seemed to be having fun with the fa la la’s, and the Doctor found himself behind the king. He motioned for Tegan to continue leading them, and she stepped forward.

“See the blazing yule before us,” Tegan sang, watching the Doctor carefully while she led the rest of the room in the song. The Doctor skipped along the table, pulling the holly wreaths off the walls. He was making it look as if it was part of the act, but Nyssa could tell there was a purpose behind it. He made it along the right side of the table before he found what he was looking for: a panel in the wall that opened to reveal a computer. He gingerly opened it and began quietly pressing buttons. Suddenly, all the courtiers fell forward without a change in expression. They all looked exuberantly happy, except that one second they were singing and the next they had fallen flat on their faces.

“What did you do?” Tegan asked.

“Well, it was obvious they were robots,” the Doctor said. “I assume you noticed the odd lights everywhere. Didn’t exactly belong in a medieval court, did it?”

“No,” Tegan said. “And they didn’t have any food. Seemed a bit odd for a feast.”

“So what were they, Doctor?” Nyssa asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” the Doctor answered. “The playthings of some advanced civilization, perhaps, set up to emulate Christmases past. You know, you humans invent the strangest things once you come across a little technology.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault,” Tegan said. “This is after my time.”

“I’m just glad we didn’t end up in a jail cell,” Nyssa said quickly, heading off another Doctor-Tegan argument. It seemed that she spent the majority of her time doing that. “I wonder how long they were stuck in that feast.”

Tegan looked at the lifeless robots and shuddered, “Who knows? They’re even creepier now though. Doctor, Nyssa’s right, let’s just go.”

“All right, where to?” the Doctor asked.

Tegan looked up at him, “Is there any point in asking for Heathrow?”

“Probably not,” the Doctor said as he left the banquet hall. Tegan and Nyssa rolled their eyes and each other and followed quickly. All the same, the three of them were humming “Deck the Halls” as they reached the TARDIS and took off.


	6. Good King Wenceslas

“Doctor, what are we doing here?” Peri asked plaintively. She glanced around at the stone road and the distrustful looks on the people’s faces.

The Doctor gave her a look of disbelief. “Well, to see the coronation, of course! Why else would we be in London in 1066, on Christmas Day no less?” He gestured grandly at the rickety buildings. The gray and dirty garb of the surroundings contrasted wildly with his garishly colored coat.

“London?” Peri asked, narrowly sidestepping what looked like pig droppings in the street. She was sure remembered this from her history class. “Wasn’t it Charlemagne who was crowned on Christmas Day?”

The Doctor stopped in the middle of the street, so that all the passersby had to swerve around him and Peri nearly walked right into him. “Charlemagne? In London? No, no, no, Peri, that was almost 200 years earlier in Aachen. And far too crowded and cliché for my tastes. This is William the Conqueror’s coronation day. After months of battle, he succeeded in taking control of England from the Saxons, beginning centuries of Norman rule.” He paused for a moment, then continued on. “They even spoke French. Can you imagine the English speaking French?”

Peri rolled her eyes, “Not at all.” She tugged at the long blue dress the Doctor had found for her to wear. It was really more like a smock. 

Westminster Abbey seemed out of place, and Peri couldn’t figure out way. Maybe it was because she was used to seeing it in pictures surrounded by modern office buildings and skyscrapers. But as she looked around, she realized that the abbey was a bright, large building in a city that had only recently been invaded by the fiercest army in this century. The inhabitants still looked wary, hurrying about their business without speaking to each other. There were armed guards almost everywhere. Peri gulped; it made her nervous.

“Look, Peri, there he is!” the Doctor said excitedly, watching William process through the streets. People were now lining the narrow roads, cheering, but it was subdued compared to what Peri was used to. She remembered watching the footage of Charles and Diana’s wedding back on Earth. This was quiet and tame compared to that.

“He’s shorter than I thought he would be,” she said. The Doctor nodded.

“Yes, he was known for that even in medieval times, when everyone was shorter than you would be used to.” Peri could see what he meant, the Doctor stood more than a head above the crowd. 

“So he was kind of like Napoleon?”

“In a way,” the Doctor said. “You know, I’ve always wondered if short world leaders become conquerors to try to compensate.” He shrugged. “In any case, I doubt they would appreciate being asked.” They both tried to peer through the church’s windows at the ceremony, but weren’t able to see much. They could hear the droning chants, though. Peri guessed they were originally in Latin, but the TARDIS translated them for her. It wasn’t much of an improvement; things still seemed to be moving too slowly. She sank down against the church, scratching her leg where the rough wool of her dress was irritating her skin. Just once she wished the Doctor could take her somewhere interesting.

“Peri! They’re about to crown him!” Peri stood up, when suddenly there was a great shout from inside the church. Everyone around them looked around, frightened when it didn’t stop. She thought she could make out the word “yes” in the shouting, but soon enough everyone around them was gathering up their things and running away. 

“Doctor, what’s going on?” Peri asked. The mood had changed from somber watchfulness to all out fear. People were running around, dragging their belongings with them. Others were trying to get into the church. The Doctor ducked as he saw someone behind them set fire to a nearby shop. His eyes went wide with horror.

“How could I forget?! During William’s coronation, the citizens of London began to riot, thinking a rebellion had started when really, the people in the church were shouting their acceptance of William as king. Fool!”

“You forgot?” Peri yelled, flattening herself against the building to avoid getting crushed in the onslaught.

The Doctor didn’t answer, only grabbed her hand. “Come on. Back to the TARDIS.”

They ran through the narrow streets, pushing their way through frightened passersby and guards trying to restore order. “Doctor, I think they’re after us!” Peri cried, noticing some of the armored figures running after them.

“We’re almost there!” he said, panting. Their pace quickened as they left behind the city center, and Peri saw with relief the TARDIS parked innocently against a stable. They ran to it, slamming the doors shut on the guards chasing them.

The Doctor collapsed into a chair while Peri leaned against the console, trying to catch her breath. “I guess that’s why everyone goes to Charlemagne’s coronation instead, huh?” She couldn’t help a nervous giggle.

“Yes, indeed. I can’t believe I’d forgotten there was a riot that day,” the Doctor said. “I think our next trip will be something relaxing, wouldn’t you say, Peri?”

Peri nodded vigorously. “But first, Doctor, I think we should celebrate Christmas. Really celebrate, not with riots and coronations.”

“You mean with a tree, and presents, and all that nonsense?” the Doctor asked distastefully.

“Hey, it’s not nonsense!” Peri said. “Besides, you haven’t had my eggnog.” 

Surprisingly, he had the ingredients, although Peri wasn’t above suspecting that the TARDIS simply created anything anyone asked for. She made a whole tub of the stuff and brought the Doctor a glass.

“Mmm, that’s very good!” he said appreciatively. Peri beamed, praise from the Doctor was rare, and so when it happened, she knew whatever she had done was truly excellent. She raised her own glass.

“To Good King Wenceslas!”

“You mean King William. He’s the one who was crowned today.”

“Yes, but he didn’t get a song about him, did he?”

Peri watched the Doctor think it over, grinning when he couldn’t come up with a retort. She took that as a victory. 

That and the fact that their next trip was to the planet of the perfect beaches.


	7. Santa Claus is Coming to Town

“It would have been nice if they’d given us a lift back to London. After they dragged us all the way out here to see about their crashed spaceship,” Ace said grumpily, sitting down next to the Doctor in the empty train station. They had arrived in time to see the last train pulling away, and in this middle of nowhere town, there wasn’t much else to do but wait.

“Well, they didn’t realize they would have all those artifacts to take back to UNIT for study,” the Doctor said reasonably, playing with a yo-yo he’d found in his pocket. “Besides, I don’t think that army captain liked us very much,” he added in a whisper.

“Well, we didn’t exactly cooperate with her,” Ace said with a smile, remembering how the Doctor had clashed with the soldiers. “They still could have made sure we got here on time though.” 

The Doctor abruptly put away the yo-yo. “At least it’s not a bus station.”

“Oooh, yeah,” Ace agreed. “At least this is enclosed.” She went over to the window and shivered. “It’s too cold to be out there.”

“What month is it?” the Doctor asked, suddenly interested.

Ace rolled her eyes, “How should I know, Professor? You don’t exactly keep an accurate calendar around.”

“I have no time for mundane things like keeping time,” the Doctor said grandly, and Ace started to laugh at the irony. “What?” the Doctor asked, wide-eyed. 

“Too busy saving the universe, are you? Time Lord?” Ace asked through her laughter.

“Well, yes,” the Doctor answered with a grin as she sat back down next to him. “It’s just a short detour, we’ll get back to the TARDIS tomorrow and then we’ll be off.”

“I can’t wait,” Ace said through a yawn. She leaned against the Doctor’s shoulder. “Can we go to see something cool this time, like Joan Jett before she was famous?”

“Oh, Ace,” the Doctor said. “We’ll go somewhere where there’s music unlike anything you’ve ever heard, under a purple sky over a field of golden grass.”

“Sounds nice,” Ace said. “And something’ll be wrong, and we’ll fix it, won’t we?”

“Absolutely,” the Doctor said as she dropped off to sleep.

 

Ace jerked awake after what felt like only a few minutes, but blinking in the sunlight, she realized it had to be the next day. The Doctor was standing up next to her, looking rather rumpled. “It’s a bit early for all these people to be here,” he said mildly.

“Oh, now you know what time it is,” Ace said, stifling a yawn. 

Ignoring her, the Doctor went over to the ticket counter. “Excuse me, we need two tickets to London, please.”

The ticket salesman looked the Doctor over derisively, taking in his rumpled jacket, question mark vest and hat. Ace glared at him until he cleared his throat irritably. “Yeah, you and everyone else on Christmas morning.”

“It’s Christmas morning?” Ace asked, her annoyance forgotten.

“Why do you think everyone’s here at five in the morning? Get in the queue if you want a ticket,” he told them.

“Spending Christmas on a train. Sounds fun,” Ace grumbled as she and the Doctor went to the back of the queue. 

“There are worse ways to spend Christmas,” the Doctor said. “I once spent it running from a group of Cybermen who wanted to kill us.”

“That’s how you spend every day though. Besides, it’s better than some Christmases I spent,” Ace said bitterly before pulling some money out of her pocket. “I’ll get the tickets, Professor, I know you never have any money.”

The Doctor watched her go, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the spare TARDIS key, hiding it quickly when she came back. “Let’s go, Professor. I’ve had enough of this little town.”

“Yes, I thought you might have,” the Doctor said as they climbed onto the train. 

“All that stuff about Christmas is a lie anyway,” Ace said as they took their seats. “Father Christmas, presents, Christmas pudding, families together.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” the Doctor said. “I’m not entirely sure about Christmas pudding, but I can assure you Father Christmas is real.”

“You’re kidding me, right, Professor?”

The Doctor shrugged, “What do you think I do on Christmas Eve?”

Ace broke into a smile, “Of course! Time travel, that’s how he does it!”

The Doctor smiled back, “Exactly. And speaking of presents…” he pulled the spare TARDIS key out of his pocket. “You’ve been traveling with me for a while. It’s about time we made it official. If you want it, that is.” 

“You mean, forever?” Ace asked excitedly. “Of course I do!”

“Merry Christmas, Ace,” he answered with a smile, giving her the key. Ace threw her arms around his neck.

“Oh, thank you, Professor! You won’t regret it, I promise.”

“I know,” he said.

Ace was in a better mood after that, chatting about nothing in particular as the train sped toward London, until they arrived and found the TARDIS exactly where they’d left it.

“Doctor?” Ace said as they prepared to leave. “That was the best Christmas I’ve ever had.” It hadn’t been much, but the TARDIS key, like the TARDIS itself, was so much bigger on the inside. It represented a lifetime of exploring the universe and never being stuck in a tiny town on Earth ever again. Not bad as far as her Christmases went.

“Oh, that was nothing,” the Doctor said. “Just wait until next Christmas, when I’ll have something really special planned.”

Ace mock-pouted. “Do I really have to wait?”

The Doctor considered. “Well, no. Next Christmas can be tomorrow, if you like. We are in a time machine, after all. But where’s the fun in that? We’d skip Easter, and Guy Fawkes Day, and the Day of Rassilon.”

“OK, you win, Professor,” Ace said. “But someplace nice this time, all right?”

“It’s always someplace nice!” he protested, and Ace shook her head laughingly as the TARDIS disappeared and they left London behind.


	8. I Saw Three Ships

“All right, old girl, where are you taking me today?” The Doctor looked up at the ceiling, almost as if the TARDIS could answer him. “Somewhere pleasant, I hope, after all those pirates we ran into last week.”

He grinned to himself as her engines hummed indignantly. He had long ago realized that she had a mind of her own, one that was now connected to his. “What’s the matter, are you bored with pleasant destinations?”

The TARDIS whipped into action, taking off and landing so quickly the Doctor barely noticed. He threw open the doors, a slow grin spreading across his face as he realized where he was. Earth. The tropics. A gorgeous day, full of blue skies, the ocean and palm trees. It wasn’t often he got to relax, but this was exactly what he wanted right now. “Where are we?”

He called up the scanner, wishing not for the first time that the TARDIS could answer him physically instead of through screens. “So this is Christmas Island, is it?” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been here before, I’ve only gone to its cousin, Easter Island. I expect most people have. Those statues, you know. I don’t think anyone would believe me if I said where they really came from.”

The engines hummed again, accompanied by a distinct sense of exasperation. The Doctor laughed, “All right, you want me to go outside and enjoy myself. I get it.” He left the TARDIS, exploring the pristine beaches and looking at the surrounding vegetation. “You know,” he said, raising his voice so the TARDIS could hear him, “This island was named Christmas Island because an East India Company ship sailed past it on Christmas Day 1643. No one from Europe had ever been there before.”

He smiled as he felt her sigh in his mind, exasperated. “But you already knew that, didn’t you? This is why I need a companion. Remind me to start looking for someone new when we leave.” 

Still, he didn’t let his lack of a companion deter him. He set off for the jungle, enjoying the sound of the waves crashing against the beach. His TARDIS always knew exactly where to take him; however much he enjoyed saving the day and finding his way through a challenge, sometimes a relaxing day off was the perfect antidote. 

Before he could get very far in his exploration, the Doctor noticed something odd on the horizon. Holding up one hand to block out the sun, he realized quickly it appeared to be a ship. 

“An old sailing ship,” he mused to himself. “Well, not so old. It’s probably state of the art in whatever time we’re in now.” The ship didn’t seem very interested in the island, sailing parallel to it before disappearing into the distance. The Doctor watched it go, noticing a red striped flag flying from the mast. “That’s the English East India Company flag, if I’m not mistaken, and I very much doubt I am. Do you know what that means?” He looked around before remembering that he wasn’t traveling with anyone else, and was crestfallen for a moment. Then he shrugged, and carried on, “That means this is the day the East India Company first sailed past this island. That makes this Christmas Day!’ The Doctor grinned back at his TARDIS, “Did you do that on purpose?” He sat down on the beach, aware of how utterly unprepared for a day at the beach he was in his Victorian coat and cravat, watching the ship sail along the horizon. He began to sing under his breath, “I saw three ships come sailing in, on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day…”

The TARDIS broke into his thoughts with a smug correction and he rolled his eyes, “I know it’s only one ship, but the song says three. Anyway, this calls for a celebration. Do we have anything to make pina coladas?”

He rummaged through the cabinets in the kitchen, finally finding what he was looking for, and making himself a pina colada, complete with little umbrella and straw. He smiled proudly when he was done, heading outside only to find that the sun had set. He shrugged, pulled over a log and began building a campfire. The flames were soon big enough to keep him warm, and he could still hear the crash of the waves. He sipped his drink, staring up at the stars. “You know, the best thing about coming to these undiscovered islands is how clear the sky is. You can see everything!” He counted off constellations, both the human ones his companions had taught him and the ones he made up himself. 

“I never can figure out where the humans get their constellations from,” he said to the TARDIS. “It’s so obvious that it’s an Ogron, not Orion at all.” He chuckled to himself, soon feeling himself drift off as the ocean breeze ruffled his hair. He didn’t wake for several hours, when the sun rose. He glanced around, disoriented. His fire had long since gone out, the ship was gone and it was time for him to go. He entered the TARDIS, making sure to pat her gently as he did. “Thank you, old girl, that rest was exactly what I needed. What do you say we go back to saving the universe?”

He pressed the lever down, and the TARDIS took off. The Doctor watched the scanner, seeing the pristine beach disappear. It was hard not to remember that with discovery came development, and that soon enough, there would be settlements and people and it would never be as untouched as he had found it. But not for him, not if he didn’t want it to. That was the best thing about having a time machine; nothing was ever truly gone. If he ever needed a break, he could always find Christmas Island again. But now, there were things to do. Companions to be found, people to be saved, and new places to see.

Even after all these years, he still couldn’t wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor 8 is stuck by himself, because I don't know any of his audio companions well enough to write them, so this was kind of awkward to write.


	9. We Wish You a Merry Christmas

“I never expected Christmas to look like this,” Rose said, looking around at the bright lights. Even though it was night, the city was so brightly lit it seemed to be day, and there were people everywhere, celebrating.

“It’s not Christmas,” the Doctor said, locking the TARDIS with a smile, the one that never reached his eyes. The one that said he was trying to forget everything. “It’s the Festival World. Where it’s every holiday, all at once.”

He stopped next to Rose, watching a group of multicolored teenagers with antennae dressed in bright costumes badger everyone for candy, following by a large, intricately made dragon. In the center of the square was a giant Christmas tree, the biggest Rose had ever seen, surrounded by more flags than could apparently fit in one place.

“See?” the Doctor said. “Christmas, and Independence Day for every planet that needs one. Halloween, New Year’s in every culture you can imagine.” They both looked up at the sky as some fireworks went off, followed by a small spaceship landing in the midst of the crowd, letting off a group of people who started an elaborate dance Rose had never seen.

“It’s not just human holidays, you know,” the Doctor said, grinning at her confusion. “Come on, let’s go explore.”

Rose followed, falling behind as she watched the various celebrations. She saw some holidays she recognized, such as a group of people burning Guy Fawkes in effigy, and some she didn’t, such as a highly ritualized ball game played by a group of people with blue armor plates. She found the Doctor eating latkes with a side of curry near what looked like the biggest food court in the universe.

“Doctor?” Rose asked, as she accepted her own plate of latkes and curry. “What is this planet?”

“I told you, Festival World,” the Doctor answered, surveying the crowd. Seeing her confusion, he explained. “After a while, everyone decided it made no sense to separate all the holidays. What if you really feel like skipping Guy Fawkes Day? What if you want it to be Christmas every weekend?”

“But that’s not how it works,” Rose protested, remembering the many times her mother had had to explain why Christmas only came once a year. 

The Doctor shrugged, “Why not? What’s stopping it?”

Rose stopped, unable to answer. The Doctor continued, “So the governments of the Twelve United Worlds got together and set aside this planet as a place to celebrate anything and everything. People can come here when they have a day off, celebrate whatever they want, and ignore what they don’t. That way they don’t have to worry about it the rest of the time. Pretty clever, right?”

Rose had to admit it was. “It’s like a futuristic holiday playground.”

“Exactly!” the Doctor said. “It’s fantastic!”

“Can we celebrate Christmas then?” Rose asked, watching the huge tree. It was lit by something more than ordinary lights that made it shimmer brilliantly against the night sky.

“That’s byproduct from fusion scoops ships,” the Doctor said, seeing where she was looking. “Literal pieces of stars, decorating the Christmas tree.”

“Bit better than our tree at home,” Rose said. “Mum usually just buys some garland on sale at Tesco’s.”

They watched a group of carolers, dressed in Victorian garb assemble in front of the Christmas tree. Glancing at each other, Rose and the Doctor collapsed into giggles. “Not the same after you’ve seen the real thing, is it?” the Doctor asked.

“No, it’s nice,” Rose protested. “It’s sort of what you think of with Christmas, isn’t it?” She took a closer look at the carolers, realizing they weren’t singing a classic carol, but an electronic twist on “All I Want for Christmas is You.” 

The Doctor laughed at her confusion, “This is a classic. Well, now it is anyway.” He looked up as an electronic drinks robot came around with eggnog. It was followed by a second robot, which offered them two Christmas crackers and wrapped presents.

“Complimentary gift service of Festival World,” the robot said in a metallic voice before gliding off. Rose tore open her present to find a knitted hat with snowflakes on it. 

“Bit useless here,” she said, glancing up at the sky. There wasn’t a cloud in sight, let alone a snowflake. 

The Doctor shrugged, “Part of the charm. Gifts are all themed.” His present was a stocking, red with white fur. “Look! It’s full of chocolate.” He grinned while Rose shook her head, laughing. 

There was literally everything Rose could think of to celebrate Christmas. They sat down at a huge table next to other Christmas celebrants, eating the biggest Christmas dinner she had ever seen. There was a turkey every two feet of the table, mixed in with vegetables, wines of all types and some things that Rose didn’t recognize. She assumed they were all foods invented after her time. They joined the revelers in a huge game of charades, and then stood around a log fire so big it was more like a Yule tree. 

It was a little overwhelming, Rose thought, looking around, if it had been snowing, or even just less futuristic, it would have been better. She was taken out of the fantasy every time she looked up to see the bright lights of billboards advertising the trappings of other holidays. She sighed. It seemed to her that the real purpose of Christmas, or any holiday, was to spend it with family. Her only family was her mum, millions of miles away and thousands of years back in time. But the Doctor wouldn’t get that. He had no one, no attachments. The holidays humans looked forward to all year, waiting to see family they hadn’t seen in months, preparing for so they got everything perfect, would only ever be stops to him. Just like they were for all these people. It was all so empty, and she had never felt like the Doctor was truly an alien until that moment. It made her feel sorry for him.

He seemed to enjoy it though, in the way he enjoyed everything. By throwing himself in headfirst, living purely in the moment so he didn’t have to remember anything else. Rose didn’t know the whole story of what he had done during the Time War but she knew enough to know that he must have been a very different person before it, and that these times when he threw himself into some new activity were the closest he got to being himself again, even if he was only pretending.

She could give him that, for a few more hours anyway, she thought as they went off to watch a storyteller tell a few classic Christmas tales (as well as a few new ones she didn’t know). He needed this more than she did. Call it a Christmas gift.


	10. Jingle Bells

Martha pushed open the door to the flat, her arms full of shopping bags. She rolled her eyes when she heard the blare of Christmas music. Of course he wouldn't think to help her out. The Doctor had been extraordinarily unhelpful since they'd been stuck in 1969, alternately throwing himself into one hare-brained scheme after another and moping on the sofa. She'd had to put him on a strict allowance to make sure he didn't spend everything she earned, and to be honest, she was surprised he'd listened.

"Martha!" He called brightly from the sitting room. "How was your day?" This, she supposed, was the reason she put up with him, because there were times when he made you feel like you were the only person that mattered. She was glad to see he was cheerful though. There had been many days over the past few months where he’d been so morose that she was honestly worried about him. He really couldn’t last long in one place.

"All right, I suppose," she said, following him into the sitting room. "Oh my God, what happened here?' It was always an adventure, returning home after work to find the remnants of whatever the Doctor had done all day. Once she had found him experimenting with jacket potatoes to see if he could recreate the potato pizzas of Miberia Prime. Another time he'd invited in a group of itinerant musicians and was happily teaching them Gallifreyan chords. 

Today, the room was covered in Christmas crackers, and there was a half-decorated tree in the corner. "I wanted to get it done before you got home," the Doctor said apologetically. Evidently, he’d failed, but she appreciated the effort. It was better than some of the things he’d found to do while she was out. 

"Well, it'll be gorgeous when it's done," Martha said, cleaning up some of the crackers. "How did you get all this?"

"Oh, Mr. MacParson down the street needed some help putting up cabinets and gave me all this in return," the Doctor said, absent mindedly tossing his sonic screwdriver from hand to hand. "Do you know, I don't think I've ever used this as an actual screwdriver before today?"

"I believe it," Martha said. Then she sighed, "I'd almost forgotten it was Christmas." She supposed the huge Christmas displays in all the shop windows should have been a clue, but she had been lost in her own thoughts ever since they’d arrived here. She fell silent, thinking of past Christmases, when her dad would play Father Christmas and her mum would make her famous Christmas pies. Or more recent Christmases, where they spent one day at Mum's and the next at Dad's and both days arguing and drinking. Still, just about now, she'd rather be there.

The Doctor seemed to pick up on her mood, and grabbed his coat. "Come on," he said. 

"Where are we going?" Martha asked, thinking ruefully back to the days when going somewhere with the Doctor meant landing on a different planet, not just walking down the street.

"You'll see," the Doctor answered as they shut the door behind them. 

The air outside was cold and crisp, and the Doctor rubbed his hands together. Martha grinned, "I thought you didn't feel the cold?"

"Got to look like I fit in somehow, don't I?" The Doctor responded. "Look up there." He pointed suddenly to the night sky. "That's the Pleiades. You can only just see them. By your time they'll be completely invisible. Light pollution."

"Isn't that where we stopped that war? The one where the royal house was fighting the rebellious insect people?" She remembered the planet now, a pretty one with deep purple skies and tall mountains. It couldn’t be more different than where they were now, surrounded by the dirt and grime of late 1960s London.

The Doctor smiled, "The Adeians. It was, yeah." He scratched behind his neck. "Looks a bit different from down here."

Martha laughed, "I'll say." She fell silent when she caught the look on his face. It was full of longing and loss. It was the same look he had every time he saw a police box on the street. She felt sorry for him; she knew all too well what a struggle it had been for him, being stuck like this. He seemed too big to live in their little flat; he was larger than life to the point where one planet couldn’t hold him.

"Martha, I'm sorry," the Doctor said suddenly. "So, so sorry. I promised you the universe and instead we're in 1969 for months."

"It's all right, Doctor," Martha said. "I mean, yeah, it's annoying. But we'll get the TARDIS back. And then, when I see stuff from 1969, I can say 'I've been there. I lived there.' Just like those stars, the Pleiades. I look up at them and I can say I've been there. Now how many people get to say that?"

The Doctor smiled, "Not many." He stopped and smiled at her. "You are amazing, Martha Jones. Do you know that? "

"Well, yeah, I did," Martha said with a grin. "But it's always nice to hear it."

They walked a little further down the street, until they found a small coffeeshop that was filled with people. "Oh, look at that," the Doctor said with a smile. "A little shop. Come on, Martha."

She shook her head fondly as he led her inside. He never could resist little shops. Inside, it was warm. Everyone was seated around small table with cups of either tea or coffee. There was a traditional folk band in the current playing guitars. "Is it just me or did we wander into-"

"1969?" The Doctor finished. They looked at each other and burst out laughing, attracting stares as they hurriedly took their seats. 

The atmosphere was friendly and the tea was delicious. Martha soon found her mood improving. "This is nice. Thanks, Doctor."

"No trouble at all, Martha Jones," the Doctor answered. "What's the point of being in the 60s if you don't go to at least one group sing along?"

Martha laughed as the guitarists went into a rowdy edition of Jingle Bells and everyone started singing along, even the Doctor. She joined in, and wasn't even surprised when the Doctor fished a bunch of actual bells from his pocket to go along.

Even with nothing at his disposal, he was still surprising. And life with him, even stuck in the past, was still an adventure.


	11. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

The Doctor stopped, his hand hovering over the door knocker. He was suddenly unsure. It felt like ages since he had seen Amy and Rory, although he didn’t actually know how long it had been, on either side. One of the ironic things about being a time traveler was that it was remarkably difficult to keep track of time. But one thing he was sure of was that it was Christmas Day (for once the TARDIS had landed on the right day) and he wanted to spend it the same way anyone else would: with the people he cared most about.

He just wasn’t sure if they wanted to spend it with him.

He sighed and knocked on the door, figuring he had better get it over it with. The door opened and The Doctor looked up into the face of Amy Pond, yelling that she had a water pistol if there were any more carolers. Amy, who he hadn’t seen in who knows how long. Amy, who thought he was dead. She fell silent in shock, and then squirted him in the face with the water pistol.

“Two…years!” So that was how long it had been. The Doctor stared up at her, and she stared back before they finally started laughing and fell into a hug. The relief washed over him. He should have known; he and Amy could never truly be strangers to each other. Then Rory appeared and it was a mess of greetings and happiness that he couldn’t remember feeling in such a long time, and then suddenly he was being invited for Christmas dinner.

“There’s a place set for you,” Rory said, stepping aside so the Doctor could enter the house.

“But you didn't know I was coming. Why would you set me a place?” The Doctor asked.

Amy rolled her eyes, “Oh, because we always do. It's Christmas, you moron.” She went back inside, obviously expecting the Doctor to follow. He remained on the stoop for a moment.

That wasn’t a tear on his cheek, was it?

He wiped his eyes hurriedly and went inside, glancing around to see how they’d decorated. He smiled to see a few things they’d picked up on their travels with him given pride of place on tables and the mantel. He was so rarely inside an ordinary house that it struck him he was doing something quite unusual. 

“Doctor! Food’s getting cold,” Amy called from the kitchen. The Doctor went into the kitchen, his mood suddenly bouncy. 

“Want some help?” He waved the sonic screwdriver around. “You know I do a mean omelet.”

Amy gave him a confused look, “Yeah, I know. But it’s Christmas dinner, not breakfast. Turkey and vegetables and things, not omelets.”

“I hate vegetables,” the Doctor said grumpily and Rory rolled his eyes as he passed by with a bottle of wine. It was probably very good wine. The Doctor didn’t like wine at all.

“Don’t worry, we made sure we got food you liked,” Amy said, setting a plate of fish fingers and a bowl of custard down on the table. She sighed exasperatedly, although her smile assured him she wasn’t really angry. “Honestly, it’s like having a five-year-old.”

“It is not,” the Doctor said, pointing the sonic screwdriver at her. “I speak from experience.” He hovered over Amy’s shoulders, watching her cook.

“Here, if you’re going to do that, at least stir something,” Amy said, handing him a bowl and spoon. The Doctor took the bowl and started stirring, concentrating on the task so intensely that Amy and Rory looked at each other and starting giggling. 

The Doctor flushed in embarrassment. Somehow how Earth he always seemed to be out of step, at least in this incarnation. It was almost like being at the Academy again. Give him a crisis to deal with and he was in his element. Put him in an ordinary social situation and he was lost. “What is this anyway?” he asked to cover his embarrassment.

“Christmas pudding,” Amy said. “I’m, er, a bit late.”

“It was supposed to be done this morning,” Rory said. “But someone didn’t realize the turkey would take as long as it did.”

“I told you a turkey took at least six hours,” Amy said, throwing him a dark look.

“And – yeah, that person was me,” Rory finished sheepishly. The Doctor caught his eye and grinned. They hadn’t changed at all; still the same Amy and Rory. They were as confused by all this as he was, and he found that assuring.

“You know, we don’t have to stay here for Christmas if you don’t want to,” the Doctor said, the travel glint entering his eyes. “We could go to the planet of artisan cheeses, or the ice world of Montaria, where the snow is sentient and creates art in the air.” It would be just like old times, the three of them traveling together. He looked between them, grinning.

“Sorry, Doctor, I’d love to,” Amy said. “But we’ve got company!”

“It’s just me, you know I don’t need anything fancy,” the Doctor said.

Rory scoffed, “Mr. ‘I can’t stay in one place for more than five minutes?’ Sure.” The Doctor shot him a dark look, until Amy stepped in between them.

“No, not just you, did you think we didn’t see anyone else on Christmas Day?” she asked. “My parents are coming.” The Doctor remembered now, she had parents again since the universe had rebooted. “They can’t wait to see you. And , er, also meet you. I don’t think you actually introduced yourself at the wedding.”

“Ah, well, weddings. Doesn’t matter if people know each other. Are we going to dance again?” The Doctor asked, starting his trademark dance that he’d started at the wedding.

“Um, if you want to,” Rory said. The Doctor grinned, putting the bowl down and bounding into the sitting room, pointing the sonic screwdriver at the stereo.

Soon, the room was filled with the sounds of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and the Doctor started to dance, his face breaking into a grin. Amy looked at Rory and started to laugh before going to join him. 

“That’s the doorbell, should I go get it?” Rory called over the music. Neither Amy nor the Doctor answered, dancing around the sitting room and laughing hysterically. Rory shook his head and went to open the door, letting Amy’s parents in.

“Mum! Dad!” Amy said happily. “You remember the Doctor, right?” She gestured toward the Doctor, who interrupted his dance when he saw them and kissed them both on either cheek. They looked at each other oddly, before Amy suddenly called out that dinner was ready. 

“Doctor? Potatoes?” Amy asked, motioning to him to pass them to his right. He watched them carefully to make sure he knew the correct table manners – he was sure he’d known this at some point, hadn’t he dined with the royal family in his third incarnation? – and looked up in shock when Amy’s mother addressed him.

“So, Doctor? Do you work at the hospital with Rory?” The three of them looked at each other, too quickly to hide it. They’d never explained exactly where the Doctor had come from.

“Uh, not exactly,” Rory answered.

“Oh, so are you a friend of Amy’s then?” her father asked. “I don’t remember you from school, though.”

“Well, I am a friend of Amy’s,” the Doctor said. “You could say I’ve known her almost her whole life.” The Ponds – the elder Ponds, anyway – stared at him, and Amy cleared her throat.

“The Doctor’s usually the one we’re visiting when we go away, right, Rory?” Amy said, nudging her husband.

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Rory said. 

“Oh, really? Where are you from?” Amy’s dad asked.

“London,” Rory answered the same time Amy said, “Australia,” and the Doctor said, “Spotsylvania!”

The other four stared at him, and the Doctor smiled, “I’ve always wanted to be from there. It’s like a whole place full of polka dotted people!”

“Spotsylvania is full of spotted people?” Amy’s mother asked.

“Well, of course not, that’s Spotslandia,” the Doctor said. “Well, they’re not really people so much as sentient fungi. Covered with spots, of course.”

“And here’s the Christmas pudding!” Amy said loudly, setting the pudding down in the center of the table, saving the Doctor from having to continue. It served as enough of a distraction to get through the rest of the dinner, and then Amy’s parents were getting up to leave.

“Wait, don’t we have to sing carols or something?” The Doctor said, suddenly eager to do Christmas correctly. The ordinary way. 

“Oh, Doctor, not carols!” Amy said. “Didn’t you see the water pistol?”

The Doctor didn’t answer, just smiled and ran over to the stereo and turned on the music. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” started again, and the Doctor offered his hand to Amy’s mother. Soon, Amy and Rory were dancing too, and the Doctor sat down, letting the elder Ponds dance together. He settled on the couch, watching them, and for the first time in centuries, he felt like he was home.


	12. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

"What do you want to go Christmas shopping for anyway? You do that every year," the Doctor protested, when Clara came to him with her latest request.

"Yeah, that's the point, it comes round once a year," Clara answered. "Come on, Doctor, no one else can say they got Christmas presents from...Alderaan or something."

The Doctor ignored the reference, possibly because he simply didn't recognize it, and asked, "You think you're the only one who ever wanted me to take them somewhere exotic for Christmas?" Images flashed in his mind of Sarah Jane excitedly pulling him through the markets in 15th century San Marino. “You don’t need to go to the stars for that.” 

"Come on, Doctor, please?" Clara wheedled. The Doctor rolled his eyes and pulled the lever, watching her face light up as he did so.

"This is the great market of Bantoom," the Doctor said as they landed, opening the doors and gesturing toward the crowd of people haggling over prices. He almost backed up into the TARDIS, able to tell instantly that there was nothing wrong here; only a sea of people they would have to fight through. Clara's face, however, took on a shrewd expression, and she took off through the crowd, leaving him to catch up. At least she hadn't grabbed his hand and pulled him along, he thought as he pushed his way through the lines of people.

"OK, this is nice," Clara said, noticing the Doctor appear next to her. "What is it?" She shoved a metal contraption under the Doctor's nose and he gently pushed it down. 

"It's clothes dryer, on time delay."

"A clothes dryer?" Clara asked, wrinkling her nose. "Isn't it a bit small?"

"Not if you're 10 centimeters tall like the insect people of Mattonia," the Doctor answered absent-mindedly, putting the dryer back on the table. He noticed the seller inadvertently leaning back and wondered if everyone was going to react that way to him from now on 

Clara was already on her way to another booth, "Is this perfume?"

"Why, yes, young lady, it is?" The shopkeeper answered.

"My gran'll love this," Clara said. "How much?"

"Fifty credits?"

Clara shrugged and went to her pocket when the Doctor slapped his hand down on the table, "Fifty credits for that dodgy flower water? It's not worth half that. Where is it from, the swamp worlds of Eotun?"

The proprietor looked darkly at the Doctor and then turned back to Clara, obviously still trying to make a sale. "Thirty five credits?" The Doctor glared at him and he visibly quailed. "Thirty then." The Doctor raised an eyebrow and the proprietor sighed in defeat. “Twenty credits then?” The Doctor nodded, and Clara handed over the money, looking happier. The shopkeeper looked disgruntled, but then he shouldn’t have tried to overcharge people for substandard products.

“Doctor, you’re still glaring. How am I supposed to find anything to buy if you’re too busy scaring everyone away? Come on, let's see what else there is." Clara set off and he sighed and followed. Glaring seemed to be the natural setting for him now, and he greatly enjoyed the cowering effect it had on everyone else. It kept anyone from bothering him unless they really needed something.

“Do you think my dad could use a...” Clara trailed off, holding up a small container, obviously unsure of what it was.

“Self-turning magnetic bolts,” the Doctor provided. “I don’t know, does he usually put up shelves?”

“I guess so?” Clara said. “Twenty credits?” She asked the shopkeeper.

“Oh, these are very hard to get, miss,” the owner said. “I couldn’t accept anything less than thirty-five.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes, “Oh, come on, those are sold in every half-rate market and shop from here to Androzani Major. Twenty credits is what she’s offering, take it or leave it.”

The shopkeeper laughed nervously, “Your friend here means business.”

“Oh, that’s nothing,” Clara said, handing over the money and taking the bag. “You should see him when he’s angry. Thank you very much!” She headed off in another direction, leaving the Doctor to catch up again.

"I don't think there's much point to all this, you know," the Doctor said as he pushed through the crowd and found Clara scrutinizing several small machines that looked like propellers.

"Well, you are a well-documented grouch," Clara said absently. "So I hope you don't mind if I don't take your word for it. What is this thing?" She held up a bulky bronze necklace.

"It's a noise pendant. It emits a very annoying screeching sound whenever the temperature gets too hot. Or anyone gets too close. Or sometimes just if you touch it the wrong way." He eyed the pendant as if it were a particularly dangerous enemy. Clara, however, smiled inexplicably.

"Great, that'll be perfect."

"Who could you possibly want to wish that on?" The Doctor asked.

"My stepmother. She'll hate it," Clara said brightly. "Go on, do your thing."

The Doctor looked at her blankly. "What thing?"

"Your...price thing," Clara answered.

"Oh, yes " the Doctor said, turning his darkest gaze on the shopkeeper, who flinched. "You cannot possibly charge her more than fifteen credits for that instrument of torture you're selling."

"Uh, no, no, of course not, miss," the shopkeeper said. He smiled insincerely and Clara walked off with her pendant.

"You are really useful to have around, Doctor," Clara said.

"I know. Defeating Daleks, saving planets, getting great discounts. How ever did you get along without me?" The Doctor said in a deadpan. "Can we go now?"

"Yeah, all right. Think I've got everything," Clara said. The Doctor sighed in relief and headed back to the TARDIS. 

"Thanks again!" Clara called, bounding out the door. Then she turned back, pulling something out of her pocket. "Wait, I almost forgot." She handed him the small wrapped package. 

"What's this?" The Doctor asked, taking it gingerly.

Clara smiled, "Did you think I'd forgotten you? Merry Christmas, Doctor." She turned and left, and he opened the package to find a small snow globe, with a clock tower and a small phone box next to a street lamp. Turning it over, the snow started to fall, and he set it on the TARDIS console, watching. He half smiled in spite of himself. The reference was obvious, of course. The clock tower in the town called Christmas where he, this version of him, had met Clara for the first time.

Maybe there was something to this Christmas business after all. Or so he thought until it started playing a very cheerful holiday song and then he stuffed it in the chest under the TARDIS console. There really was only so much he could take.


	13. Happy Xmas (War is Over)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As requested by a reader on FF.net, an encore about the War Doctor.

The TARDIS flew through space, and its owner simply hung on for dear life. She had never let him down before, and he simply had to trust that she wouldn't now.

They crashed, and the former renegade pushed the door open without even checking to see where they were. He had to see what had happened. The Tenth Dalek fleet had been advancing on Karn, the forces the Citadel had sent pushed back as far as they could go without retreating. He had never held much respect for Karn, and knowing he would be dead without them changed none of that. 

He was beginning to wonder if it would have made any difference if he had died in that crash. He felt as if he was losing more of himself the longer he was fighting in this pointless war. He'd already lost his name, now he knew he was only a few atrocities away from losing his soul.

Still, the thought of yet another seat of Time Lord knowledge lost to the Dalek onslaught was too much to bear, and he fought fiercely to save Karn. Which apparently had led him here.

He looked around, sniffing the air. The scent of gunpowder and explosives was tangy in the air. The ground was bare, the dirt disturbed where thousands of boots had trod on it. The Time Lord walked away from the TARDIS, barely noticing the cold. He was hardly surprised to find trenches dug in the frozen earth. For this was Earth. For a moment the homesickness overwhelmed him. He hadn't been to Earth in decades that felt more like centuries. He had been so terrified of leading the Dalek forces to his adopted home that he hadn't gone near it. Now that he was here, he sighed inwardly. Even now, that he'd fallen through time to his favorite planet, he couldn't get away from war.

"Who goes there?" A voice called. Young. Panicked. Like so many young soldiers this particular Time Lord had seen through war.

"At ease, soldier," he said, holding his hands up. English. These were English trenches.

"What are you doing out there, sir?" The young soldier asked. The Time Lord sighed. The lad must have recognized the command aura and battle weariness that hung about this incarnation. He wished desperately they would stop saluting him.

"I'm a visitor here," he answered.

"From one of the other trenches, you mean?" One of the other young soldiers asked.

"Well, yes, I suppose," the Time Lord answered. It didn't seem to matter what war they were all fighting. 

The first soldier, who was obviously left in command in spite of his young age, looked as if he was about to say something when a sound reached their ears.

"What is that?" A third young soldier asked.

"Silent Night," the Time Lord answered instantly. Seeing the blank looks, he rolled his eyes, "You know, the Christmas Carol!"

"I know what Silent Night is," the commander said. "That doesn't sound like it at all."

"No, the tune's the same, it's just... German," another fellow said. 

The information barely had time to sink in when they heard someone approaching. Another soldier was approaching, his hands held up to show he was unarmed. "Merry Christmas, English," the new arrival said in heavily accented English.

There was a furious argument conducted in whispers between the occupants of the trench about whether to trust the German soldier. Their Time Lord visitor, however, smiled. "Of course," he breathed to himself. "Christmas 1914."

The commander of the trench, evidently having decided it was safe, put down his gun and climbed out of the trench. The German soldier grinned and waved to his fellows, who came out of the trench after him. Soon, they were all sitting in no man's land, exchanging cigarettes and tokens. 

"I'm MacMillan," the young leader of the English trench said to his German compatriot, who smiled widely and pointed to himself, saying, "Heinz."

"I was a bricklayer," one of the other English soldiers was saying. The German soldier he was talking to evidently knew some English, because he smiled.

"Jeweler!"

MacMillan threw his cigarette down, "I was going to be a teacher before I came here."

The German commander, Heinz, mimed sawing wood, and the English soldiers started to laugh. "A carpenter!" One of them guessed, and Heinz and the German soldiers started to laugh too.

"What about you?" one of the younger soldiers asked the Time Lord visitor.

"Oh," he said, sighing before drawing himself up. "I was a Doctor, once." He paused before adding, "Too long ago."

The others nodded, and then one of the German soldiers ran up to him and handed him a medal. "St. Luke?" he asked, looking at it. The patron saint of doctors.

The German nodded. "Doctor," he said, pointing first to himself, then to the Time Lord who had once been the Doctor.

The Doctor, or the man once known as the Doctor (he couldn't tell the difference anymore), closed his hand over the medal. "Thank you," he said, shaking the other man's hand. "Thank you all," he added to the group before taking his leave. They all waved gaily to him, and he made his way back to the TARDIS, knowing that this scene was taking place all over the Western Front. 

He reached the TARDIS and rested a hand fondly on her side. "Thank you," he said again, quietly. He needed the reminder. 

That even in war, there could be miracles, and all wars, even the greatest and most terrible, end.

And that when it ended, he might be able to find the Doctor in himself. once again.


End file.
